The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 1:14-18, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’

16 For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to meet someone truly distinguished? Then, when it occurred, it was even more

exciting that what you had thought it would be? That’s how the Apostle John felt about meeting Jesus. The Bible says that

“God is spirit…” (Jn 4:23), but when He decided to manifest Himself to those whom He had created, He “became flesh, and

dwelt (pitched His tent) among us.” Jesus was more than any of them had ever imagined!

Immediately, “John bore witness of Him.” There are several men in the Bible named “John.” John, who was the apostle,

always referred to himself as “the one whom Jesus loved.” So, the John whom he cites here is John the Baptist. It was he

who witnessed of the LORD Jesus saying, “He who comes after me has a higher rank than I.” And so He did! Remember

that they were all Jews, John the apostle and John the “baptizing one” had been adherents to the Law of Moses. Remember,

too, that the Law of Moses was never intended to be a redemption of the Jewish people. It was given to remind them of their

sin. Jesus did much more. He offered “grace and truth.” One Greek lexicon calls grace (charis) “a religious technical term for

God’s attitude toward human beings, kindness, grace, favor, helpfulness.” Truth (aletheia) is “absolute truth, opposed to pretense

or mere appearance.”

Then in verse 18, John says, “No man has seen God at any time…” What we have never known about God the Father,

His Son, Jesus, has now explained to us and to all mankind. The knowledge of God the Father –as much as He desires to

reveal of Himself – is contained in and demonstrated through the life and teaching of Jesus. Is it any wonder that we believers

are near to death, they delight in their homegoing? As for believers left alive on Earth, we can join the Baptist in telling all we know

about His Son, Jesus! Share Him fully and lovingly. Some day you will meet Him face-to-face!

Our daily prayers always include you,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

John 1:6-13, “There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John.

7 He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him.

8 He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light.

9 There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those

who believe in His name,

13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

It’s often been said that the three great philosophical questions are: Who am I? Why am I here? and

Where am I going? John answers these questions in our verses for today. He commences by

Identifying himself as a mere man with no special qualities, but sent into the world by the LORD. He

makes nothing of himself or his name; but of his purpose, he is clear. He is a witness, who gives

testimony of Jesus, the True Light by which every person might come to know Him (Rom. 1:19).

John identifies the LORD Jesus as the Creator of the world and all things within it. Jesus came into

the world that He created and to His own people (the Jews), but they did not receive Him. Authority

to become the children of God, however, is granted to all who believe in Him. No one is shut out

without first having the opportunity to receive Him! Not everyone who has been humanly born is

automatically a son of God. Nor is there some “work” man must do to gain acceptance. God’s created

people have only to believe on their Creator as their Savior! And that means that we, like John, must

ever and always be witnesses of Him! So, do you know who you are? Do you know why you are here?

Do you know where you’re going? Then, let nothing hold you back.

You are in our daily prayers,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Matthew 23:24, “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

As far back as I can remember, I have been gifted with a sense of humor. At times,

everything takes on the look of fun. I follow Nana on foot as she drive the carts in

Walmart. And as she rounds the corner a new aisle, I look seriously at the people

and say in an audible, but “whispered” voice, “She doesn’t have insurance!” Sometimes

my stand-up-and-push basket almost collides with someone, because I’m always in a

hurry. When It’s a BIG man, I say, “Sorry, sir, but I never mess with guys who are

bigger than I am.”

Have you ever imagined Jesus being humorous? I think the verse above demonstrates

that even though He was always serious about His mission on Earth, He had a sense

of humor. In fact I was taught that the expression was humorous to the Jews of His day.

The King James translation says, “strain at a gnat.” But the Greek says, “strain out…”

“Eliminate from a liquid by an extraction process; filter out a flying insect.”

Solomon said, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones” (Pro. 17:22).

There are a lot of things that work against maintaining a joyful spirit, but just because some

people act and look like dried prunes, there’s no reason for us to be glum. What does that old

song say?

If you know the Lord,
You need nobody else,
To see you through the darkest night.
You can walk alone,
you only need the Lord
To keep you on the road marked right.
Take time to pray, every day;
And when you’re heading home,
He’ll show you the way.
If you know the Lord,
You need nobody else,
To see the Light,
God’s wonderful Light.

Practice being joyful today! You’ll brighten the paths of other around you; and you just might

encourage yourself in the process!

We love and pray for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Many times it’s best to go back to the very beginning in order to grasp the meaning of what is being said.

John does that in these five verses. God is a Trinity, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. They always existed

together long before there was a world was created. The word John uses for “Word” is ????? (logos). It is

a “vocalized expression of the mind.” We think something and then we express that thought in words. But

logos is also used to mean the personification of God the Son, as “the Word was God.” The context

determines whether the meaning of logos is a mere word or the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Here it means

Jesus Christ. He was the Creator of all things. Further, it was Jesus who gave life to all thing, man included.

There is also another word for word: ???? (rhema). It means a simple statement, pronouncement, or declaration.

It is by rhema, that the LORD “upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3).

Jesus possesses life within Himself. His life is light, and He gives light to all mankind. The light that He

gives is physical light, the kind that overcomes darkness. That light is also a “divine understanding given

to the spirit and soul of all human beings.” Paul makes reference to this in Romans 1:19, when he

says, “…that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”

Funny thing about light. It overcomes darkness; but darkness never overcomes light. You can bring a

light into a dark room and it overcomes the darkness. How to bring darkness into a lighted room and

overcome the light, I’ve never figured out. One more thing: the word ????????? (katelaben) that means

to overcome, also means to understand. Thus, it is the light the Savior puts within us that helps us to

understand his Word. And Satan can never keep us from understanding God’s Word when we read it,

trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us. Sounds like He’s provided all we need. Yet He leaves it to us to pick

up the Bible and read!

We Love you and pray for you every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Luke 10:25-28, “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying,

‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’

26 “And He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?’

27 “And he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor

as yourself.’

28 “And He said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’”

If you believe the news – and this part, I do believe – there is a lot of bullying going on,

especially in the public schools. There are different kinds of bullying, but none of it is

productive, except to anger others and drive them to hate instead of love.

The lawyer in the verses above was something of a bully in his time. The word “test,”

translated “tempt” in the King James version of the Bible means “to test with the hope

that the one tested will not pass the test.” In other words, it means a “trap.” The lawyer

was not sincere; he was “showing off” in the effort to trap Jesus. Jesus, on the other

hand, did not set a trap for the lawyer. Instead He asked a question, enabling the man

to get the answer without confrontation.

Jesus knew the lawyer was not sincere in asking his question. Nevertheless, Jesus

showed love, which the lawyer was not suspecting. This is the true method of answering

a bully. They always know how to provoke a fight; but they don’t know how to deal with

sincere love. Only recently, I heard of a man who was harshly provoked by a man who

was his boss in a hospital. The boss gave him the worst jobs to do and did everything

he could to harass him. The man, however, just went about doing what he was told

and never complained. Over time, the boss came to know Jesus Christ, and he said it

was the man’s attitude of love that he could not overcome and that eventually brought

him to faith in Christ.

Love those bullies! Don’t get mad; don’t try to get even! Just love them like Jesus loves

you. Love works every time.

We pray lovingly for you every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”